HEALTH CARE US

Republicans really want a Christian nation, they should start acting like it. Canadian Dr. Danielle Martin testified before the the U.S. Senate health subcommittee on Tuesday and learned just how uncharitable some GOP senators can be. When it comes to social welfare, Canadians are nicer than many Americans. We don't like hospital wait times either, but we're willing to accept some discomfort in order to ensure the less fortunate in our society receive the same care as everyone else. Millions of mostly-conservative Americans believe that if you're poor it's your own fault.

One thing Americans and Canadians can agree on is that we don't want each other's health care systems. In truth, most Americans don't know how Canada's system works and Canadians don't know much about the U.S. system. Yes, there are waiting lists for some services -- but, no, Canadians are not coming across the border in droves to get American care. Separating fact from opinion as the Canadian ambassador long ago urged was something I tried to do as I made my way across Canada while visiting there recently. In some ways, the Canadian system is very different from U.S. health care. In other ways, it's very much the same and faces similar challenges in the years ahead.

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